Tigerair Taiwan Ltd (台灣虎航), a low-cost subsidiary of China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), yesterday announced that it would raise the fees for checked baggage and in-flight amenities to match prices charged by its competitors.
Effective tomorrow, baggage fees are rising from a minimum of NT$390 (US$12.87) for 15kg — based on the flight distance — to a minimum of NT$750 per flight for 15kg, the no-frills carrier said.
The price of three inflight meals have also been raised 25 percent.
Some consumers have expressed dismay at the changes, which could lead to price increases of more than 100 percent.
The change is designed to encourage consumers to plan and arrange their trips earlier, the company said, adding that travelers can take advantage of new package deals available at the time they are booking their flights.
These deals include “tigersmart” which offers free carry-on baggage, discounts on checked baggage fees, and a waiver on the “tigerbuddy” fee that is imposed on certain seats, such as those on aisles that have more leg room.
The “tigerpro” package offers a larger baggage allowance, a one-time waiver for rescheduling fees, and includes an inflight meal.
The company is also introducing a loyalty program in which 1 percent of the cost of a ticket could be converted to points that could be used in NT$100 increments.
The carrier said its prices have become more competitive.
In other aviation news, EVA Airways Corp (長榮航空) yesterday launched an online promotion offering discounts of up to 44 percent across 60 routes. The promotion ends on Oct. 30.
EVA Air gave an upbeat outlook for the rest of this year, saying load factors are expected to hit 85 percent for Japan, 80 percent for the US, 90 percent for Australia and 82 percent for Europe.
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”
Sales in the retail, and food and beverage sectors last month continued to rise, increasing 0.7 percent and 13.6 percent respectively from a year earlier, setting record highs for the month of March, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Sales in the wholesale sector also grew last month by 4.6 annually, mainly due to the business opportunities for emerging applications related to artificial intelligence (AI) and high-performance computing technologies, the ministry said in a report. The ministry forecast that retail, and food and beverage sales this month would retain their growth momentum as the former would benefit from Tomb Sweeping Day
Thousands of parents in Singapore are furious after a Cordlife Group Ltd (康盛人生集團), a major operator of cord blood banks in Asia, irreparably damaged their children’s samples through improper handling, with some now pursuing legal action. The ongoing case, one of the worst to hit the largely untested industry, has renewed concerns over companies marketing themselves to anxious parents with mostly unproven assurances. This has implications across the region, given Cordlife’s operations in Hong Kong, Macau, Indonesia, the Philippines and India. The parents paid for years to have their infants’ cord blood stored, with the understanding that the stem cells they contained